Abstract
Control of structures in soft materials with long-range order forms the basis for applications such as displays, liquid-crystal biosensors, tunable lenses, distributed feedback lasers, muscle-like actuators and beam-steering devices. Bistable, tristable and multistable switching of well-defined structures of molecular alignment is of special interest for all of these applications. Here we describe the facile optical creation and multistable switching of localized configurations in the molecular orientation field of a chiral nematic anisotropic fluid. These localized chiro-elastic particle-like excitations—dubbed ‘triple-twist torons’—are generated by vortex laser beams and embed the localized three-dimensional (3D) twist into a uniform background. Confocal polarizing microscopy and computer simulations reveal their equilibrium internal structures, manifesting both skyrmion-like and Hopf fibration features. Robust generation of torons at predetermined locations combined with both optical and electrical reversible switching can lead to new ways of multistable structuring of complex photonic architectures in soft materials.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Woltman, S. J., Jay, D. G. & Crawford, G. P. Liquid-crystal materials find a new order in biomedical applications. Nature Mater. 6, 929–938 (2007).
Kachynski, A. V. et al. Realignment-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and three-dimensional imaging in anisotropic fluids. Opt. Express 16, 10617–10632 (2008).
Camacho-Lopez, M., Finkelmann, H., Palffy-Muhoray, P. & Shelley, M. Fast liquid-crystal elastomer swims into the dark. Nature Mater. 3, 307–310 (2004).
De Luca, A., Barna, V., Atherton, T. J., Carbone, G., Sousa, M. E. & Rosenblatt, C. Optical nanotomography of anisotropic fluids. Nature Phys. 4, 869–872 (2008).
Clark, N. A. & Lagerwall, S. T. Submicrosecond bistable electro-optic switching in liquid crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 36, 899–991 (1980).
Yang, D. K., Doane, J. W., Yaniv, Z. & Glasser, J. Cholesteric reflective display: Drive scheme and contrast. Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1905–1907 (1994).
Kim, J.-H., Yoneya, M. & Yokoyama, H. Tristable nematic liquid-crystal device using micropatterned surface alignment. Nature 420, 159–162 (2002).
van Oosten, C. L., Baastiansen, C. W. M. & Broer, D. J. Printed artificial cilia from liquid-crystal network actuators modularly driven by light. Nature Mater. 8, 677–682 (2009).
Yamamoto, J. & Tanaka, H. Dynamic control of the photonic smectic order of membranes. Nature Mater. 4, 75–80 (2005).
Smalyukh, I. I., Butler, J., Shrout, J. D., Parsek, M. R. & Wong, G. C. L. Elasticity-mediated nematic-like bacterial organization in model extracellular DNA matrix. Phys. Rev. E 78, 030701(R) (2008).
Brake, J. M., Daschner, M. K., Luk, Y. Y. & Abbott, N. L. Biomolecular interactions at phospholipid-decorated surfaces of liquid crystals. Science 302, 2094–2097 (2003).
Smalyukh, I. I., Zribi, O. V., Butler, J. C., Lavrentovich, O. D. & Wong, G. C. L. Structure and dynamics of liquid crystalline pattern formation in drying droplets of DNA. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 177801 (2006).
De Gennes, P. G. & Prost, J. The Physics of Liquid Crystals (Oxford Univ. Press, 1995).
Chaikin, P. M. & Lubensky, T. C. Principles of Condensed Matter Physics (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000).
Coles, H. J. & Pivnenko, M. N. Liquid crystal ‘blue phases’ with a wide temperature range. Nature 436, 997–1000 (2005).
Clifford, M. A., Arlt, J., Courtial, J. & Dholakia, K. High-order Laguerre–Gaussian laser modes for studies of cold atoms. Opt. Commun. 156, 300–306 (1998).
Curtis, J. E. & Grier, D. G. Structure of optical vortices. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 133901 (2003).
Smalyukh, I. I. et al. Electric-field-induced nematic-cholesteric transition and three-dimensional director structures in homeotropic cells. Phys. Rev. E 72, 061707 (2005).
Oswald, P., Baudry, J. & Pirkl, S. Static and dynamic properties of cholesteric fingers in electric field. Phys. Rep. 337, 67–96 (2000).
Allen, L., Beijersbergen, M. W., Spreeuw, R. J. C. & Woerdman, J. P. Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre Gaussian laser modes. Phys. Rev. A 45, 8185–8189 (1992).
Marrucci, L., Manzo, C. & Paparo, D. Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in inhomogeneous anisotropic media. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 163905 (2006).
Brasselet, E., Murazawa, N., Misawa, H. & Juodkazis, S. Optical vortices from liquid crystal droplets. Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 103903 (2009).
Smalyukh, I. I., Shiyanovskii, S. V. & Lavrentovich, O. D. Three-dimensional imaging of orientational order by fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy. Chem. Phys. Lett. 336, 88–96 (2001).
Muhlbauer, S. et al. Skyrmion lattice in a chiral magnet. Science 323, 915–919 (2009).
Dubois-Violette, E. & Pansu, B. Frustration and related topology of blue phases. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 165, 151–182 (1988).
Mosseri, R. Geometrical frustration and defects in condensed matter systems. C.R. Chim. 11, 192–197 (2008).
Pansu, B., Dubois-Violette, E. & Dandoloff, R. Disclination in the S3 blue phase. J. Physique 48, 305–317 (1987).
Smalyukh, I. I., Kachynski, A. V., Kuzmin, A N. & Prasad, P. N. Laser trapping in anisotropic fluids and polarization controlled particle dynamics. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 18048–18053 (2006).
Gil, L. & Gilli, J. M. Surprising dynamics of some cholesteric liquid crystal patterns. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5742–5745 (1998).
Smalyukh, I. I. Confocal microscopy of director structures in strongly confined and composite systems. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 477, 23–41 (2007).
Nabarro, F. R. N. Singular lines and singular points of ferromagnetic spin systems and of nematic liquid crystals. J. Physique 33, 1089–1098 (1972).
Helman, J. L. & Hesselink, L. Visualizing vector field topology in fluid flows. IEEE Comput. Graph. Appl. 11, 36–46 (1991).
Hung, W.-C. et al. Surface plasmon enhanced diffraction in cholesteric liquid crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 183115 (2007).
Hegmann, T., Qi, H. & Marx, V. M. Nanoparticles in liquid crystals: Synthesis, self-assembly, defect formation and potential applications. J. Inorg. Organomet. Polym. Mater. 17, 483–508 (2007).
Loudet, J. C., Barois, P. & Poulin, P. Colloidal ordering from phase separation in a liquid-crystalline continuous phase. Nature 407, 611–613 (2000).
Poulin, P., Holger, S., Lubensky, T. C. & Weitz, D. A. Novel colloidal interactions in anisotropic fluids. Science 275, 1770–1773 (1997).
Smalyukh, I. I., Lavrentovich, O. D., Kuzmin, A. N., Kachynskii, A. V. & Prasad, P. N. Elasticity-mediated self-organization and colloidal interactions of solid spheres. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 157801 (2005).
Stebe, K. J., Lewandowski, E. & Ghosh, M. Oriented assembly of metamaterials. Science 325, 159–160 (2009).
Kang, S.-W. & Chien, L.-C. Field-induced and polymer-stabilized two-dimensional cholesteric liquid crystal gratings. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 221110 (2007).
Lu, S.-Y. & Chien, L.-C. A polymer stabilized single-layer color cholesteric liquid crystal display with anisotropic reflection. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 131119 (2007).
Leach, J., Dennis, M. R., Courtial, J. & Padgett, M. J. Vortex knots in light. New J. Phys. 7, 1–11 (2005).
Leach, J., Dennis, M. R., Courtial, J. & Padgett, M. J. Laser beams: Knotted threads of darkness. Nature 432, 165 (2004).
Irvine, W. T. M. & Bouwmeester, D. Linked and knotted beams of light. Nature Phys. 4, 716–720 (2008).
Anderson, V. J. & Lekkerkerker, H. N. Insights into phase transition kinetics from colloid science. Nature 416, 811–815 (2002).
Hud, N. V., Downing, K. H. & Balhord, R. A constant radius of curvature model for the organization of DNA in toroidal condensates. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 92, 3581–3585 (1995).
Kulic, I. M., Andrienko, D. & Deserno, M. Twist-bend instability for toroidal DNA condensates. Europhys. Lett. 67, 418–424 (2004).
Livolant, F. & Bouligand, Y. Double helical arrangement of spread dinoflagellate chromosomes. Chromosoma 80, 97–118 (1980).
Grier, D. G. A revolution in optical manipulation. Nature 424, 810–816 (2003).
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the support of the Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter (ICAM) and the NSF grant nos DMR-0645461, DMR-0820579, DMR-0847782 and DMR-0844115 as well as the University of Colorado Innovation Seed Grant. We also thank F. Livolant, T. Lubensky, L. Radzihovsky and J.-F. Sadoc for discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
I.I.S. and R.P.T. carried out all experimental work. I.I.S. was responsible for project planning and tentative explanation. Y.L. did computer simulations of structure and elasticity and I.I.S. simulated the intensity distribution. I.I.S., Y.L., N.A.C. and R.P.T. were responsible for writing the article. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (PDF 1026 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smalyukh, I., Lansac, Y., Clark, N. et al. Three-dimensional structure and multistable optical switching of triple-twisted particle-like excitations in anisotropic fluids. Nature Mater 9, 139–145 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2592
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2592
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Collective variable model for the dynamics of liquid crystal skyrmions
Communications Physics (2024)
-
Topological steering of light by nematic vortices and analogy to cosmic strings
Nature Materials (2023)
-
Liquid crystal defect structures with Möbius strip topology
Nature Physics (2023)
-
Scalar optical hopfions
eLight (2022)
-
Electrically tunable collective motion of dissipative solitons in chiral nematic films
Nature Communications (2022)